


Looking For Neil

by maia_m03



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, Between Chapters, Canon Compliant, Ficlet, The King's Men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 08:06:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15792468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maia_m03/pseuds/maia_m03
Summary: "Don't you dare say that," Andrew growled at Kevin.Kevin's eyes went wide as he stared at Andrew and managed a hoarse, "He said you didn’t know."Andrew made a move as if to go at Kevin again before Wymack shoved him back.[Or what the Foxes do after Neil was taken by Lola]





	Looking For Neil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kel_Sticks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kel_Sticks/gifts), [FANtasise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FANtasise/gifts).



"Neil?!" Andrew heard Nicky yell yet again.

Wymack had sent the whole team out searching once they realised Neil had vanished.

"Neil?! C'mon man. Where are you?!" Nicky yelled once again. Andrew glanced over at his cousin and found him looking around dejectedly for the wayward Fox.

In his distraction, Andrew almost tripped over something heavy on the ground. He looked down and found a bright orange duffle bag with the name 'Josten' printed across the side in large white block letters. Kevin didn’t stop beside him but kept walking. He came back a few moments later and Andrew looked up when he stopped. Kevin was holding a heavy orange and white Exy racquet that could only belong to Neil.

"Hey guys!" Matt called as he jogged over to the three, "Coach said - wait, what is that?" he stared at the bag in Andrew's hands then flicked a glance to the racquet in Kevin's.

"They're Neil's," Kevin said. 

"Shit," Matt considered it for a moment before saying, "Talk to Coach while Abby checks all of you. You took quite a few hits," he glanced at Andrew at the last part and Andrew glared back.

"Neil wouldn't leave his stuff on purpose," Andrew held up the bag in one hand and Neil's phone, which he had found in an unzipped side pocket, in the other for emphasis, "something must have happened. Someone must have taken him."

"Don't go jumping to conclusions," Matt said and turned to lead them back to the bus.

Kevin stood there for a few moments longer while he processed Andrew's words. Andrew watched as his face paled and he took off running towards the bus, still holding onto Neil's racquet.  
As Kevin drew closer to the bus he saw the rest of the team sitting on the ground waiting for Matt to bring the others back, Coach was sitting on the first step leading into the bus, and Abby was looking at a dark bruise forming on Allison's arm.  
The upperclassmen apparently didn’t notice him approaching as they all jumped when he slammed his free hand on the side of the bus to keep himself upright.

"Woah, hey, Kevin calm down. Is that Neil's?" Dan said and got up to get a better look at the racquet. She glanced over Kevin's shoulder when she saw Andrew, Matt, and Nicky approaching.

"Yes. Coach tell me you know where he is," Kevin persisted.

"Day, if I did you wouldn't all be sitting out here freezing your orange asses off," Wymack said, "I'll start calling hospitals in the area. See if anyone brought him in."

Kevin leaned heavily against the bus and sighed as he tried to sort out his thoughts. 'Someone must have taken him.' He thought about it and concluded that Andrew was probably right considering this was Neil they were talking about. Kevin figured it wouldn't have been Riko, it's too public. That only left one person.  
Kevin grabbed Neil's phone from Andrew's hand and used the racquet to push Andrew back when he made a grab to get it back. He flipped the phone open and went to Neil's messages. He didn’t know what he was looking for until he saw the newest text Neil had gotten. He stared at the digital zero for an endless minute before realising it was stamped for today. A freaking countdown.

Wymack had just hung up with the third hospital when his phone started ringing and he answered it in an annoyed tone before hearing the person on the other end. After a second he turned away from his team to talk a little more privately.

Kevin clicked out of messages and looked at recent calls. He froze as he recognised the area code.

Wymack hung up with whoever it was that had called him and turned back to the Foxes, "Well, good news. They found him."

"Where?" Andrew said a little too calmly.

"He's in-"

"Baltimore," Kevin cut him off but didn’t tear his eyes away from the phone screen. His wasn’t aware of the rest of the team's stares as his hands started shaking to the point where he dropped the phone. Luckily Andrew caught it and pocketed it.

"…Yes," Wymack said.

Andrew turned an icy look on Kevin but his voice was still unnaturally calm, "How did you know?"

Kevin was too shaken to answer him, or even hear him. He gave his head a slight shake as if to clear his racing thought, and turned on the rest of the group, "Does anyone have the news?"

Everyone remained silent while staring at Kevin, shocked at his response.

"Anyone?!" Kevin snapped louder.

Dan snapped herself out of it first and said, "Yeah, I do," as she grabbed her phone from her pocket and opened the news app. She turned an expectant look to Kevin with her thumbs hovering over the screen, silently asking what to search for.  
Instead of speaking, Kevin took the phone from her to search himself. The rest of the Foxes watched him as he looked intently at the screen. His fingers stopped moving and from the light of the screen reflecting off of him, they could see whatever colour was left on his face drain away.

Matt seized Dan's phone from him when his white-knuckled grip threated to crush it. His brow furrowed when he saw the headline that Kevin had clicked on, "Nathan Wesninski paroled and released this morning," he read aloud then turned to Kevin, "Who's Nathan Wesninski?"

Kevin shook his head but didn’t answer. Instead he said a quiet disbelieving, "Nathaniel's dead."

Allison tilted her head in confusion, "Who's-"  
She didn’t get to finish as Andrew had finally snapped. He wrenched Neil's racquet out of Kevin's grip, threw it to the ground, and slammed him back against the bus. His fingers dug into Kevin's throat as Kevin choked and gasped for air. Matt tried to drag Andrew off of Kevin but got an elbow in the face for his troubles. It took Wymack, Nicky, and Aaron to finally drag Andrew a safe distance from Kevin.  
Kevin slumped back against the bus in a coughing fit.

Abby was standing next to Matt as she tried to stop the blood that was dripping from his nose, "It's not broken."

"Don't you dare say that," Andrew growled at Kevin.

Kevin's eyes went wide as he stared at Andrew and managed a hoarse, "He said you didn’t know."

Andrew made a move as if to go at Kevin again before Wymack shoved him back.

"How about we all keep our heads on, yeah?" Coach said as he stood between Andrew and Kevin with an arm in front of Andrew in case he tried to have another go at Kevin, "I think we could all use some answers, don’t you," he stared down at Kevin.

Aaron and Nicky moved over to the upperclassmen, Nicky picked up Neil's racquet on the way.

"Let's start with this: who's Nathaniel?" Coach asked.

Andrew answered before Kevin could even open his mouth, "Neil. Nathaniel is his real name."

Kevin glared at him and held a hand against his neck as if that could ease any pain, "He said you didn’t know," he muttered again.

"Neil?" Dan asked dumbfounded.

Kevin glanced her way and said, "Neil's real name is Nathaniel Wesninski."

"Wait. Wesninski? As in…" Nicky trailed off but his question was clear. Kevin nodded.

"Yes. Nathan Wesninski is Neil's father."

"His father? Then Neil's okay then, right? Why'd you say Nathaniel's dead?" Dan asked.

Kevin laughed deliriously, "Okay?" he shook his head, "If Nathan gets his hands on Nathaniel, he's as good as dead!"

"Neil," Andrew corrected.

"I'm still not following," Coach said, "why would Neil's father want to kill him?"

"Yes Kevin," Andrew was still glaring at him, "Why would he want to kill him?"

Kevin sighed and gave up trying to hide Neil's past, "Because of something that happened eight years ago."

"Eight years- wait you've known him all this time?" Matt was pinching his nose to stop the blood.

Kevin held up his hands in surrender, "In my defence, I didn’t realise it was him."

"Did you know when you had us fly out to Arizona?" Wymack asked.

Kevin shook his head, "I just said that. No. He looked different, changed his hair, contacts, and also, it had been eight years. I only realised-"

"At the fall banquet," Andrew finished for him and clarified when the others gave him questioning looks, "That's what they were yelling about. Jean figured it out first?"

"Yeah, then told Riko."

Everyone was quiet for a moment then Wymack spoke, "So you knew him from before," and continued at Kevin's nod, "This has to do with the Moriyama's, doesn't it?" Kevin nodded again.

"Okay, start from the beginning."

Kevin slid down the side of the bus and sat on the ground. He huffed out a breath before agreeing.

"When I first met him, Nathaniel played backliner-"

He wasn't even a sentence in before Aaron cut him off, "Backliner? I thought he was a complete newbie."

Kevin glanced up at him, "Technically he was. At playing offense," he raised a shaky hand and touched his tattoo, "He was supposed to be '3' not Jean, but that didn’t happen. He hasn't touched a racquet in eight years so his defence skills were complete shit as well until those two weeks over Christmas," he flinched when Andrew took a step towards him at the mention of the Christmas incident. 

"Back on track," Wymack instructed, "What does this have to do with the Moriyama's and Neil's father?"

Kevin glanced at him but continued what he was saying, "Nathaniel played at Evermore with me and Riko eight years ago. It was one of two tests so that the Master could observe his skills and assess whether or not his purchase would be profitable."

"Purchase?" Allison asked, "The hell does that mean?"

Kevin just looked at her as though the answer was so obvious. A moment later her eyes widened in realisation.

"Okay, but Neil is with us and didn’t have a number until not too long ago. What happened?" Dan asked.

"He never made it to the second test. His mother wouldn’t risk it and disappeared with him overnight."

"Wouldn’t risk what?" Nicky asked as if he was afraid of the answer.

Glancing down Kevin answered, "If he didn’t make the cut, the Moriyama's would've had his father execute him."  
Nicky flinched violently at the answer, Aaron's jaw dropped slightly, and Dan, Matt, and Allison just stared.

Nicky shook his head, "No, no, no, no. It's still his kid. He wouldn’t. Would he?"

Kevin couldn’t stop a disbelieving laugh, "Of course he would! The man has no soul! He's the Moriyama's right hand!"

"And that means?" Allison said.

"Unquestioning loyalty. The Moriyama's most trusted. His reputation within the empire sank after Nathaniel and Mary disappeared. He won't hesitate," Kevin shuddered at the memory he was about to share.  
"That night, the three of us; Riko, Nathaniel, and I, saw him carve a man into pieces. Skinned him an inch at a time, carved the flesh out from underneath, then used a blowtorch to cauterize the wound before repeating. It took him all night to die."

"…Jesus Christ," Nicky had gone completely pale.

Andrew tried to get around Coach to get at Kevin, and Wymack shoved him back yet again.

Kevin looked to Andrew as he continued, "They call him the Butcher of Baltimore. Because he loves using-"

"Knives," everyone turned to Renee as she spoke for the first time that night, "I thought he meant Riko."  
At the confused and questioning looks sent her way she said, "'I've never understood why he likes knives' I thought Neil was talking about Riko, considering what had just happened to him, but now I guess he was actually talking about his father."

"…Yes. I mean, I was going to say a cleaver and an axe, but he does like knives as well," Kevin said. He glanced at Nicky at the strangled inhuman noise he made.

Everyone went quiet then Dan spoke, "How old were you that night?"

Kevin looked to the ground, "Twelve. Nathaniel was ten."

Matt opened his mouth, closed it, then said, "That actually explains quite a few things about him."

Allison spoke up then, "Guys, c'mon. Neil is the fastest person we know. What if-"

"It won't matter. Not if-"

"Shut up," Andrew cut in, "Just shut up."

"I thought you wanted answers," Kevin stated accusingly. Andrew just continued to glare at him.

"As I was saying," Allison glared at the both of them, "What if he got to the knives first? How would he fair in a knife fight?"

"I offered to teach him how to use knives a while ago, but he declined," Renee said.

Kevin glanced over at her, "Of course he said no. That kid already knows everything there is to know about knife fighting and more. One doesn’t grow up a Wesninski without learning the twenty fastest ways to kill someone."

"Everything he ever said was a lie," Andrew said.

Looking over at him, Kevin saw something in Andrew's eyes. Even if it was only for a fraction of a second, he swore he saw something akin to betrayal.

"He told me what he told you," Kevin said to him, "Not all of it was a lie. Some things, yes. But mostly what he said was true, just altered."

Dan went to say something else but Wymack held up a hand and she went quiet, "Everyone stop talking. We've been approaching this backwards. The FBI already have Neil at some hospital."

All of the upperclassmen let out a synchronised breath of relief.

"That doesn't matter, Coach!" Kevin yelled.

"And why is that?" Aaron asked.

"Why is - were you listening to anything I just said?" Kevin exclaimed exasperatedly, "It won't matter if the FBI have him at a hospital if he's suffered severe blood loss, or worse, loss of limbs! Besides, Nathan can just go after him again!"

Nicky choked on his words and Andrew looked even more murderous than before, if that were possible.

"Everybody relax. They assured me he is fine," Coach said.

"Coach! Why didn’t you lead with that?!" Nicky exclaimed.

Wymack shrugged, "I figured Kevin knew something and I didn’t want to have to wait several hours for some answers."

"Coach!" Kevin yelled, "He's still not fine, did you hear what I just said? Nathan could come after him again."

"…Nathan's dead. The FBI told me, I didn’t know who they were talking about though."

Kevin choked, "What?! Did Neil…?" he trailed off, unable to finish his question.

Wymack shook his head, "No, it wasn’t Neil. But they wouldn't say who it was."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kevin leaned his head back against the side of the bus, but sat up again when Wymack turned back to Andrew, "Are you gonna leave him alive now?"

"Undecided," Andrew said.

Wymack shook his head and sighed, "All of you lot, on the bus. It's a long ride to Baltimore."

Kevin was still as pale as a sheet as he sat in his usual seat, his leg bounced in anticipation of what they would find waiting for them in Baltimore.


End file.
